Vulnerable
by Skylark Evanson
Summary: "Please don't," she pleaded, voice still hushed. "Please. I don't want to lose you too, Lance."


**A/N: So again, here's another one on the same topic as "Speak", but minus the Solomon.**

**Warning: Spoilers for the episode "A Family Crisis".  
****Disclaimer: I do not own Sym-Bionic Titan.**

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He had kept the picture that they had taken for the holidays wedged into the lower right hand corner of the frame that held the picture of him and his dad. This newly forged family ranked about as high as his blood family did. The Lunis family had earned themselves a nicely positioned spot in Lance's heart. They had earned the right to be put beside his long lost father, Ilana and Octus had.

But the night he walked into his room after losing another family member, he wished he hadn't started caring. Some part of Ilana's personality had made him soft and now that he was caring, he missed Octus. He missed him almost as much as he missed his father. Maybe even more.

Lance and Ilana had gotten back late that night and each had just gone to their rooms in a stoned silence, neither having spoken a word to each other since the loss of their parental figure and friend. So Lance had just pushed open the door to see the smiling faces of his father, himself, Ilana, and Octus watching him from his bedside table. He wasn't sure whether he was angry enough to smash it or heartsick enough to just leave it there in memory of the fallen.

Too tired to do much more than collapse on his bed, Lance let the picture remain intact another day. He didn't have the energy he needed to properly destroy it. So he just curled up under the blankets that would keep the night's cold air away, not bothering to take off his jeans or his shirt. He didn't care what he was wearing. Lance only wanted to sleep.

But he found that he couldn't. So many thoughts were racing through his mind at once. He had to figure out how to know when the Rift Gate was opening and how to fight without the advantages that Titan could provide. How would he protect Ilana without Octus's assistance? How would they buy food without him producing their money? How would they keep up with house payments? And school... What to tell everyone about Newton's sudden disappearance... Lance couldn't shake off the feeling of misery that was haunting his every waking moment. He only wanted sleep...

The dark teen's eyes drifted over to the picture and all the smiling faces that had once seemed welcoming but were now just taunting memories of a perfect past. Now his future was more broken than it had ever been. It was haunting him. And now he and the princess were so vulnerable... How would he take care of Ilana?

Lance rolled over to face the wall that his bed was pressed against. He didn't want to be looking at the smiling faces of his families anymore. He didn't want to feel that ache of longing in his heart anymore. He tried to suppress all emotion, bottling up his raging feelings and locking them away tightly. His eyes squeezed shut and he tried to force sleep upon his tired mind.

A knock rattled his door, breaking the cold silence of the room. He had probably only been curled up with one hand under his head and his body stretched out as he faced the wall for a few minutes, but that time had felt like an eternity. He didn't acknowledge the sound and instead just let it go.

Lance was vaguely aware of the sound of his door squeaking open as the night continued onwards in it's journey to morning. "Lance?" came Ilana's soft and scared voice from the now open doorway. "Are you still awake?"

He couldn't see her and he wasn't in the mood to talk, but be did glance over his shoulder to let her know that he hadn't yet fallen into his dreamland. No words were shared on his behalf.

"Can-" The princess had to take a breath and slightly recompose herself before finishing her question. "Can I come in?" Never in her life had she felt so weak. Even as her planet was being destroyed, she was fighting back. Now, she was defenseless, having only Lance to protect her against every unforeseen danger that was thrown at them.

"Sure." He shifted a bit to sit up in bed, watching her pale form glide into the room like a phantom. Lance could see that she was in her nightgown, the faint moonlight that filtered in through the window illuminating what little he could see through the shadows of darkness. And then he saw her sit on the side of his bed, face turned away from him.

Ilana was somewhat shaky, and Lance could feel it; he put one hand on her shoulder. "I... I... I miss Octus." Her gaze wouldn't meet his, and Lance could only assume that she had been crying and didn't want to show it.

The girl's guardian just murmured, "I do too." That was all he really had to say. He missed their friend as well, maybe even more than she did. And knowing that she needed comforting now more than ever, Lance quietly draped his arm across her shoulders and pulled her quaking body to the mattress, forcing her to lie down, head on the soft pillow. He pulled the blankets over her, sitting up a bit more to do so; Lance could've sworn he saw sparkling tears cascading down Ilana's pallid cheeks, but he said nothing about them. He quietly laid down beside her, pulling her back into his chest and letting his arm wrap gingerly around her waist. "But don't worry," he continued, voice scarcely more than a whisper, "I'll take care of you, no matter what the cost."

Ilana stiffened slightly in his arms, not due to how close they were, but because of how much meaning those words could pack when used in such a context. "Please don't," she pleaded, voice still hushed. "Please. I don't want to lose you too, Lance." Her eyes glistened with icy tears that stained her face with trails of moisture.

Lance knew his duties rose above all else, and he knew he'd fight to the end, but he wasn't about to upset the princess anymore. He already understood how much distress she was in; he had been in it himself once before, the first time he had let a loved one get lost. Now, his senses were a bit more numb, but the pain of guilt was what was eating at Lance now. He quietly said, "Okay."

That one word hung in the air for the rest of the night, neither of the two speaking again, barely a peep made other than their steady breathing. And for the rest of the night, Ilana stayed in Lance's room, curled up against her guardian's chest, grateful that she still had a little bit of her family left.

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**A/N: I like this one. Meant to be brother/sister relationship more than Ilanca, but feel free to interpret it either way. Please review.**

**~Sky**


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